[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 74 (Wednesday, May 11, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H2226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FACEBOOK SHOULD SHARE CONSERVATIVE NEWS
(Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, a recent story from the tech blog
Gizmodo details Facebook's alleged efforts to suppress conservative
views in its popular trending news section.
Former curators of the trending news section said they were routinely
told to ignore news stories of interest to conservative readers.
Censoring stories from popular conservative news sites to fit a liberal
political agenda does a severe disservice to the American people.
A recent Pew Research Center study found that two-thirds of American
adults use Facebook to get news. Facebook has an obligation and a
public responsibility not to silence conservative voices. Facebook
should give the American people an honest appraisal of the news when it
comes to deciding what is trending on its Web site. Anything less is
intentionally trying to manipulate public opinion to promote a liberal
agenda.
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